The Finance Department of Government of Punjab has decided to cut fuel allowances by 25 per cent for all its officials. The cut has been imposed specifically on the employees working in the state headquarters.
Applicable to all administrative and police personnel, as well as health staff, the decision came a day after the Government decided to slash mobile phone allowances of its staff.
The reason behind slashing of these allowances is reported to be the restriction in the movement of people during the ongoing pandemic, because of which most employees are working from home. Also, only 50 per cent of employees are coming to offices every day.
On July 28, the Punjab government had announced that it will reduce the mobile phone allowances by 50 per cent, inviting strong opposition from the employees and the Employees’ Union UT Chandigarh.
The Punjab government employees are already protesting against the plan to restructure government departments and the decision to pay new recruits as per the Central pay scales.
After the deduction, Group A employees will receive Rs 250 instead of Rs 500, Group B will receive Rs 175 instead of Rs 300, Group C employees will get Rs 150 instead of Rs 250 and Group D will get Rs 150 instead of Rs 200.
Meanwhile, Punjab government employees are yet to get the benefits of the 6th Pay Commission but they have been drawing higher salaries than their counterparts in neighbouring states as well as the Central government.
